There is no possible way councils can claw their way out of debt by the end of the decade, says a local authority body.

Even if local authorities scrapped all non-obligatory services such as leisure centres, libraries, filling in potholes, maintaining parks, children’s centres, street lights and bus routes, they would still not be able to plug the £5.8 billion funding gap by 2020.

The grim prediction has been made by the Local Government Association (LGA) which represents local councils throughout England.

The body, which is holding its annual conference in Birmingham this week, has now described local government funding as an “urgent” situation and is asking central government to lift restrictions on council’s ability to raise council tax.

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Bristol City Council will have to make £104million worth of cuts by 2022 to balance its books.

Bristol City Council city hall

It needs to save £33million this financial year and has already started a consultation to gather public opinion on which services should be cut.

Several representatives from the council are at the conference and have heard LGA chairman, Lord Porter, make a plea to central government.

In his keynote address, Lord Porter, said: “The money local government has to provide vital day-to-day local services is running out fast. There is also now huge uncertainty about how local services are going to be funded beyond 2020.

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“Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring. We must shout from the roof tops for local government to be put back on a sustainable financial footing.”

The LGA is calling for local authorities to keep all of the money it raises through tax and to be free to raise council tax as much as they deem necessary.

Councils currently have to hold a referendum if it wants to increase council tax by more than three per cent a year.

The government gave local authorities a one-off chance to raise council tax by five percent this financial year, with the caveat that the additional two per cent must be spent on social care services.

To mitigate concerns from taxpayers, the LGA has stated that councils should try to ensure that tax increases are kept to a minimum if the government relaxes its rules.

Even the deepest cuts will not bring councils out of debt say Local Government Association (Image: Northcliffe Media Ltd.)

Lord Porter added: “Every penny in local taxation collected locally must be kept by local government and spent on our public services. The cap on council tax also needs to be lifted to ensure new money can be raised locally and spent locally.

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“Local government is the fabric of our country, even more so during this period of uncertainty for the nation. Councils are the ones who can be trusted to make a difference to people’s lives. To build desperately-needed homes, create jobs and school places, provide the dignified care for our elderly and disabled and boost economic growth.

“If austerity is coming to an end, then we need to make sure councils are at the front of the queue for more money. Only with adequate funding and the right powers can councils help the Government tackle the challenges facing our nation now and in the future.”